Competition policy for conglomerates, platforms, and eco-systems
区分了生态系统与平台、企业集团等结构，识别了适用于生态系统的损害理论（如防御性封锁），并通过微软、谷歌等案例说明生态系统视角对理解竞争损害与收益的价值。
Abstract We discuss the economics of eco-systems, distinct from other industrial structures but currently without an agreed definition. Our aim is to clarify the discussion around eco-systems by organizing the issues and pointing out where an eco-system approach could be useful. We begin by drawing a distinction between eco-systems and other structures that share some of their features, such as platforms and conglomerates concentrating on the level of control, the importance of externalities, the importance of access fees or taxes, and the presence of multiple ‘entry points’. Building on this discussion, we identify theories of harm that are likely to apply to eco-systems. These include blocking entry paths and ‘defensive foreclosure’. We then exposit the eco-system dimensions in a series of recent cases around Microsoft, Google-Alphabet, Facebook-Meta, Amazon, and Apple. We see that defensive foreclosure has been a common denominator in eco-system theories of harm and that an eco-system approach can be fruitful to understand the harms—and benefits—in such cases.